In the Wrong Place
by Scribbling Shroud
Summary: Gin unexpectedly stumbles upon a friendly face among the shinigami, and he's not entirely happy to see it. Rangiku isn't supposed to be here.   Pre-series, Spoliers for Chapter 415


**Disclaimer:** All characters and settings of Bleach are the property of Kubo Tite.

_**In the Wrong Place**_

Cheerfully munching down on his latest bite, Gin shoved the remaining half of his onigiri into one pocket of his uniform to save it for later. He could never eat a full meal at once, no matter how hungry he was. Back on the streets of Rukongai, conserving food had been really important. Even though he was a shinigami now and had access to plenty of food, some habits just didn't die out.

He wasn't technically on a break, but the task that Aizen-taichou had set him upon wasn't a really urgent one. Thus he had chosen to take a detour, grab a bite to eat, and lounge upon a low rooftop to watch everyone else scurry about their business. He took note of every minute movement he could, keeping a sharp eye out for anyone who might be in need of his sense of humour.

His brows lifted as he noticed one man in particular half-stumbling down the street, a hand pressed over his face. Gin's usual grin broadened when he noticed blood leaking from between the man's fingers. Oh, dear. Seemed that someone had decided to deck him good. How awful. Really.

"Hey there!" he called out playfully, and the man stopped at the sound of his voice. Gin tilted his head in mock concern. "Aw, some meanie hit ya in the face? Shame we can't all be civilized, huh? What an awful state the Gotei must be comin' to if we're all beatin' each other up instead of Hollows."

The man snarled and seemed ready to hurl some most unpleasant words his way, but then his eyes flicked over to the badge tied to Gin's arm and he evidently thought better of it. Well, that was no fun. Maybe he should quit wearing the vice-captain's badge all the time if it was going to keep people from reacting in entertaining ways.

Gin rested his chin in his hand, the very picture of innocence to those who didn't know better. "Looks like a nasty hit, too. Ya get a higher-up mad at ya or something? Can't imagine how that'd happen, with ya bein' so kind and respectful ta me, and all."

The man merely hissed in a mixture of pain and irritation and stormed off, presumably in the direction of the Fourth. Well that was rude, not giving him an answer. Gin was genuinely curious as to who broke the guy's face.

He wiped his hands on his hakama and hopped down from the roof. If he wasn't going to get an answer, then maybe he should just investigate this himself. He strolled down the street at his normal lazy pace, following the way the man had come from. Whoever had done it must be over here somewhere.

It wasn't long before he reached a small courtyard and noticed a girl sitting by herself on a bench, alternately shaking out and rubbing at one wrist. At the sight of her, Gin's grin faded and his eyes briefly flared open in shock.

The girl was pretty, but that was not what drew his attention. That thick blonde hair and those grey-blue eyes sparked recognition within him. He had not expected to see her again, at least so soon. What was she doing in Seireitei, and in shinigami garb, no less?

"Rangiku." There was no uncertainty in his voice. He knew that it was her.

Her head jerked up when he spoke, her own eyes widening. She blinked several times, her disbelief evident. But this didn't last long before a broad smile formed upon her lips and she leaped out of her seat.

"Gin!"

She threw her arms around him, hugging him with more strength than he would have credited to her. Then again, she was clearly the one who had bashed that other guy's face in, so maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. And she couldn't have made it through the Academy if she couldn't throw a decent punch.

He lightly pried her off of him. "Hey, watch it, now. I'm still jus' a skinny thing, Rangiku, and you've gotten all strong on me. Snappin' me like a twig wouldn't be a very nice way to say hello."

Rangiku laughed in that familiar, boisterous way of hers. No demure giggling for her. "I should, you know, for you taking off on me like that. It's been fifteen years and you never once came back to see me."

There hadn't been time for that. He had to do everything he could to get close to Aizen-taichou so that he could one day make him pay for the harm he and others had inflicted upon Rangiku those years ago. And going back would have only made her determined to follow him and put herself into danger. She was bull-headed like that.

But he hadn't gone back, and she wound up here anyway. He never should have told her where he was going.

Gin forced the smile back onto his face. It wasn't entirely false, either; in spite of his reservations, it was nice to see her again. "Bein' a shinigami is busy, busy work. 'Specially when you're an officer. Can't just go gallivantin' off any time I feel like it."

Not that he had ever felt like it. Getting revenge for her treatment and retrieving what had been taken from her was a lot more important than actually seeing her. Had he truly wanted to go, then he would have. Rules and regulations had never mattered much to him; he pretty much came and went as he pleased, military status be damned.

Rangiku huffed at him and plopped herself back onto the bench. "Since when did you care about rules? I mean . . . Wait a minute. You're an officer?" Her eyes went to the badge on his arm and widened considerably. "Vice-captain of the Fifth?"

Gin had expected the astonishment. After all, he had advanced in rank at almost unspeakable speed. Sure, it was because he had killed the former third seat upon his arrival and then the sudden vacancy of higher ranks in the aftermath of Aizen-taichou's experiments. But that didn't change the extent of his ability; it had merely sped up the recognition.

Yes, the astonishment was expected. But what wasn't expected was that Rangiku threw her head back, laughing loudly enough to garner stares from passing shinigami. Gin titled his head in confusion. Was there some joke here that he didn't get? He did so hate to miss out on something funny.

After a moment, Rangiku managed to get some control over herself. "You're the super-genius people talk about? Really?" She snickered. "How smart can you be when you've put yourself into a position where you actually have to work?"

Gin pouted and plunked himself down on the bench beside her. "Hey, that ain't nice, sayin' I'm stupid. I know how ta do stuff." The pouting was just for show; he didn't actually mind the slight. "How long have ya been here? And where did they stick ya?"

She couldn't have been here for too long without him noticing. At least, he didn't think so. Back in Rukongai, it had been easy. Odds were that she would be in the run-down shack they had called home, or out on their favourite street for scamming and pickpocketing. Finding her when he came back from his wanderings had been simple then. He didn't know about now.

And that was just wrong.

"Eh, a couple months. Just graduated," she replied with a shrug. "I got accepted into the Eighth. No big important job like yours . . ." She broke off into a laugh here. "But I'll get to be an officer, too. And then I'll get my people to do all the boring stuff for me."

He grinned again. How cute that she had plans. And he didn't imagine she'd have any trouble putting them into practice, especially considering how pretty she was and the identity of her captain. A lot of men acted like idiots around pretty girls and would do anything to gain their favour.

Even so, that didn't mean that she should be here. She wouldn't like the stuff he needed to do to avenge her. And she didn't need to see it. From all appearances, she had put that ordeal behind her, but Gin had not. Justice needed to be meted out. But he wasn't about to tell her this. His plans were no one's business but his own.

"Yeah, I can see the captain there takin' a liking to ya. He's real fond of pretty girls. And you've grown since I saw ya last, both here . . ." He gestured vaguely up and down her body before stopping and pointing at her chest. "And here, too." Fully-grown women would envy a figure like the one Rangiku already had.

She slapped his hand down and glared at him. "Don't you start with that. I've had to beat the crap out of enough people for getting too friendly as it is."

Gin whined softly and rubbed at his hand. The gesture was only half-contrived; he wasn't in a horrid amount of pain, but he'd certainly felt that blow. Rangiku hit to hurt, he'd give her that much. Actually, the fact that she did that was pretty awesome, and not just for the fact that it meant that no garden-variety shinigami would be able to manhandle her anymore. The violence itself appealed to him.

"Ow. That was mean, Rangiku. I was jus' makin' an observation. That's all."

It hardly took an observant person to notice her curvature. In fact, her shihakushou seemed to be a bit small for her upper body, the fabric straining to cover her. That made it even easier to notice. No wonder she was getting unwanted attention.

Her face softened, and she waved away his complaint. "I guess it was just a reflex. I don't mind people looking, actually. It's just that a lot of them try to touch, too. Had to deal with a bastard like that a few minutes ago." She glanced down at one hand and frowned at the smear of blood there. "Gonna have to wash up soon; he actually bled on me."

Gin chuckled. So that was what happened, was it? Oh, how he wished he could have witnessed such an amusing spectacle. Rangiku had been no wilting flower even back in Rukongai, but watching her thoroughly deck a shinigami would have been as entertaining as all hell. Perhaps another time, if she didn't decide to go back home.

"Yeah, I saw that fella jus' before I came here. Ya broke up his face real good." Nothing but approval stemmed from his voice. Out of ingrained habit, he dug into his pocket and grabbed out the remainder of the onigiri he'd been eating. Idly, he offered it to Rangiku.

She deftly snatched the food away without even glancing at him. Just like the old days. Even the passage of so many years did nothing to hinder their ability to communicate non-verbally.

But that didn't change the fact that these were not the old days. And that she shouldn't really be here in the first place.

"What'cha really doin' here, Rangiku? Seems like an awful lot of effort jus' ta find me." If that was the only reason, then he was finding some way to get her to go back to Rukongai. Maybe not to their old district, since that was a pretty messed up place, but away from the shinigami and what he had to do. "And ya never did like workin' much."

Rangiku chewed the onigiri thoughtfully, and waited until she'd swallowed the bite to speak. "It wasn't just because of you. Life was just too crappy out there. But shinigami have it made. You get regular meals, a decent place to stay, people to hang out with, cash to blow on whatever you want . . ."

She was really making too much of the whole thing, in Gin's view. Oh, decent food and shelter were nice and all, but he wasn't here for mundane things like that. Even so, it sounded like Rangiku was . . . happy here. Making her leave could get her really upset and make her cry. And that was something that he did not want. He'd come here to make sure she didn't have a reason to cry anymore.

That was going to take a while, though. In getting close to Aizen-taichou, Gin had learned that the man was even more formidable than he had previously assumed. He needed time to probe for and analyze weaknesses, anything that might give him the advantage. Time to learn bankai, to see if that would help; he was getting close. In the interim, having people to mess with and cut up was an entertaining use of his time.

It didn't matter that the people he picked on or hurt had nothing to do with what had happened to Rangiku. It was just fun. He'd found, after those first couple of kills, that nothing beat the high that came from a slice or stab, from spilling the blood and having control over someone's fate.

His grin broadened at these thoughts.

"So ya like it here, then," he said at last. "That's good. 'Cause I can't be stickin' around all the time. Got important officer stuff ta do and all that."

Rangiku rolled her eyes. "You haven't stuck around all the time since I met you. Why would I expect anything different now? I can stand on my own two feet." She shot him a meaningful glance from the corner of her vision. "But you could at least tell me where you're going for a change."

"Now you're jus' not makin' sense." Gin leaned back on the bench, stretching elaborately. "Ya talk about not expectin' any different from me, and then ya ask me ta change somethin'. Gotta work on that logic if ya wanna be an officer someday."

She punched him in the shoulder, but the blow was light and playful, and her eyes shone with wry humour. "My logic is just fine. And I will too be an officer someday. I'm serious though, Gin. Give me a heads-up when you take off somewhere. I don't think it's some big thing that I'm asking, here."

Maybe it wasn't. But leaving when the desire took him was far too ingrained, and saying anything about it sounded like such a hassle. Besides, these days, he was going to have to leave in order to do some really nasty things that she didn't need to know about. No, this habit of his was not going to change anytime soon, if ever. Some things, even for Rangiku, he just couldn't do.

"I ain't gonna promise ya anything. You'd jus' get mad at me for not keepin' it." Here, he chuckled. "And ya seem ta hit real hard these days, if that other guy is any example. I'd kinda rather ya didn't get mad at me like that."

Rangiku offered him a sad smile. "I'd never hit you that hard. Unless you did something really horrible. Then I'd really smack you down, vice-captain or not."

He gasped in mock horror. "So mean! Awfully violent these days, aren't ya?"

She laughed again, her amusement obviously genuine. Good. Maybe she would forget about trying to get him to make promises to her, then. The only ones he ever truly had the intent to keep were the ones he made to himself. Selfish? Maybe. But that was who he was. And it wasn't his fault if Rangiku didn't know that.

"Got some stuff I need ta do," Gin said after a moment. It was true, but he wasn't really in a hurry to do it. This brief meeting was enough for him for now, helped him put his goal into greater focus. "Was nice ta see ya again, Rangiku."

To expedite things, he blurred into shunpo. No goodbyes, because those could be messy. No protests from Rangiku, because those were sad. This was crisp, clean, and efficient, just as he hoped his plans would work out in the future.

She was safe enough here for now, he supposed. And he could manipulate things to keep it that way. He was good at that kind of stuff. She still shouldn't be here, but he would find a way to make everything okay.

Aizen-taichou's blood on his hands would be the final assurance.


End file.
